


For the Fatherless in Paradise

by shuwashuwishuwa



Series: Sniper!AU [3]
Category: Hey! Say! JUMP
Genre: I am so sorry, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 23:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4281996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuwashuwishuwa/pseuds/shuwashuwishuwa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When past haunts the present.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For the Fatherless in Paradise

**Author's Note:**

> Sniper!AU past/present things, originally posted [here](http://writetomyheart.livejournal.com/265547.html) for the [shiritori comm](http://writetomyheart.livejournal.com/).

_’Cock it, now,’_ the phantom voice hisses, and the familiarity of being in this situation and hearing _him_ forces Yuto to raise his hackles. The magazine touches his lips once, twice, and back it goes into the well, the fit snug inside the grip.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryosuke is a blur of movement. He’s probably loaded with a switchblade and a hand grenade himself, and Yuto’s got other problems to worry about anyway. He takes a deep breath, steadies his stance until he can ignore the quickly reddening patch on his left shoulder. That asshole _alias Hornet_ will pay for grazing him with a shard of glass. 

 

_Focus, aim, fire_. The hammer clicks as Yuto repeats the mantra to settle his nerves, careful to make sure his hands don’t shake when he spots his target and points. He’s no longer ten and a half--nothing but skin and bones and an untameable stubbornness--and bleeding on the floor of Kazuya’s home. He’s not sixteen and a literal walking time bomb waiting to explode, the tandem of him and Ryosuke the strongest and most feared, their so-called legend whispered about in hushed tones even when they’d already left the program. No, that was all in the past.

 

Now he’s twenty, tall and wiry and struggling to live an honest life, and the temple Ryosuke is a priest at just got ambushed and here they are all over again. Some habits take _forever_ to get rid of, and the feel of a semi-automatic in his calloused palms is a welcome relief, much to his chagrin. Ryosuke won’t be too happy with that bit of information.

 

Speaking of the devil…

 

“Duck,” there’s a whoosh and the glint of metal as a throwing knife flies past him, lodging itself onto the back of a girl in camo across the room. She falls and the stack of boxes beside her topples over and why hadn’t Yuto seen her when he was pretty sure she was aiming for him?

 

Ryosuke’s crouched beside him, catching his breath and sporting a shiner, but thank whatever deities guard this place because he’s still very much intact, at least from what Yuto sees. 

 

“You okay?” Ryosuke squints up at his injured shoulder, probably already calculating how long it will take and whether they’ll be killed if he bandages that up right now; he’s one knife short, but he just saved Yuto’s life _again_ and--”man, you and your brother have _issues_.”

 

“What?” The statement catches Yuto off-guard.

 

Ryosuke nods at the girl he just stabbed; she’s still not moving, so it’s safe to assume she’s done for good. “Her nape.”

 

Yuto narrows his eyes, tries to focus at where Ryosuke’s telling him to look. There’s a swirl of black and green on the girl’s skin, but the patterns are too small and she’s too far away. “A tattoo? My eyes are bad, you know that.”

 

There’s the crunch of gravel and Ryosuke bolts faster than a cat. Yuto has just enough time to turn his hands so that the barrel of his gun is on the chest of a boy as he presses the trigger twice.

 

The boy slumps against Yuto, white shirt soaking wet with crimson. Behind his ear is a similar, albeit smaller twist of green and black in a circle, with two gaps to separate the colors. Beside it is a different mark, a design so simple it could have been drawn by a child, purple and yellow but not quite a bruise.

 

"Ryuu..." the boy says, hands weakly grasping at Yuto's sleeve. And then his eyes roll back and he stops breathing.

 

"What in hell," Yuto stares at the corpse, bewildered. He's still frozen in place when Ryosuke comes back for him, a finger on his lips to signal for silence. He gently tugs on Yuto's hand, careful not to strain the injured shoulder. They need to leave. _Now._

 

-

 

"I don't understand," Yuto taps the pencil on the table to a slow rhythm. Ryosuke's tending to his shoulder, and he grits his teeth, thankful that for a shrine priest, Ryosuke's medical capabilities aren't so bad. Yuto tries not to think of what would happen should they need to take a hospital trip. The horror of that situation is enough of a distraction, especially since the shock of his pain is finally starting to fade.

 

"That mark," Ryosuke's too busy wiping his hands on a wet cloth to look at the piece of paper. "I _know_ I've seen that before."

 

"Well I haven't," Yuto tries to put his shirt back on, but he can't even get the sleeve a quarter of the way in before his shoulder's already smarting. He grimaces.

 

"Your brother," Ryosuke starts, then pauses. He knows Yuto will never talk about it. He had tried everything short of torturing the boy. "When we went to--to meet him. We saw this guy, remember? I just. He had the same tattoo on the back of his hand."

 

Yuto stays silent.

 

"It's a two-headed orouboros." Ryosuke continues, not knowing what to do with the silence. It's deafening and awkward. "A snake eating the tail of another snake. In a never-ending loop."

 

Yuto's still quiet. He's not even moving now.

 

"My," his voice wavers, like it always does when Ryosuke talks about his past. He has to press the words out before they get stuck in his throat for too long. "My mentor. He had it, too. On the side of his neck. I asked a few times, and all Ikuta-san said was that I was nosy, and it was just a beautiful design. Now I'm starting to think otherwise."

 

Aside from the breathing, Yuto's as still as a statue. There's not even the slightest hint of a twitch anywhere in his person.

 

"They tried to kill us," Ryosuke tries one more time, voice in a plea. If he needs to know anything of worth regarding Yuto's past, now would be the best time to let it all out. "They tried to involve innocent people."

 

All Yuto does is shake his head no. He doesn't even try to hold Ryosuke's hand for comfort or show sympathy. No talks about Kazuya. Ever. Especially after that one time. End of discussion.

 

"When you decide I'm worthy of knowing your story, you know where to find me." The tone is not angry. Ryosuke's lips are cool on his forehead, the softness of his steps as he leaves the room to tend to the temple the only thing echoing inside the infirmary for a long while.

 

Yuto needs to clear his head, to get some answers while protecting his promise to Ryosuke. Peace of mind is a thing that exists, but unless he has the whole puzzle pieced together, he'll never get that here.

 

" _Niichan_..." Yuto packs his bag--it's not a lot, but hopefully it'll be enough for his short trip. He's been a non-believer for as long as he can remember, but he swears, if Kazuya can hear him from the afterlife... "Guide me, please."


End file.
